Wednesday, 20 July 2011

An IPA a Day #13

Off to California (I wish) for my next IPA in the series. This one is a top bear, sorry beer and is a favourite of Mark Dredge.

Bear Republic Racer 5 is a fantastic beer and I was lucky enough to have it on draught at The Rake a year or so ago, very good it was too!
Made with four of the 'C' Hops, Chinook, Cascade, Columbus & Centennial there's a massive pine and tropical fruit character to the beer.
Pouring a deep, hazy amber, it looks amazing, and tastes it too, it's easy to understand why this beer is so popular everywhere it's found.
With the amount of tropical fruit on the nose and on the palate, even at 7% abv it could still almost be a so called 'breakthrough' or 'gateway' beer, much more so than any of the so-called girlie beers that the big boys want to push on unsuspecting prospective drinkers!
The branding is as excellent as the beers and if you find them over here, grab with both hands and don't let go until the bottle is empty!

3 comments:

I bloody love Racer 5! I had it for the first time at the Rake and that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship. The best pint I had was in Santa Rosa, a few blocks from Russian River, at the Toad in the Hole. Stunning.